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• eBay Secret Santa - Looking for a new twist on the traditional Secret Santa? In the traditional Secret Santa, employees who choose to participate draw the name of a secret pal. Depending on the...
• Background Checks Aid Employee Selection - Anyone who works for a business has stories to tell about candidates and background checking. I once called a potential employee’s first reference and found he had given me his...
• New Carnival of Human Resources - The bi-weekly Carnival of Human Resources is up at the Ask a Manager blog. As always, there are interesting posts and you have the opportunity to read a variety of...
• Difficult Employees? - Think you have problem employees from time to time? AOL did a roundup of the worst employees of 2008. Take a look and you’ll see what nightmares the occasional bad...
• Best Practices in Employee Layoffs - As you know, I post reader questions and my response when I believe they may have broad applicability to site visitors. Please take the time to respond to this reader...
• The Never Ending Search for Talent - This week, I’m doing interview training at a client company. This includes an overview of the hiring process for all participants so they have a context in which to think...
• Got the Layoff Blues? - This is hardly a chipper fall for employers or employees. Layoffs in the U.S., not to mention the rest of the world, stand at a fourteen year high of 6.5%....
• Remember Our Veterans - My father (Marines) and uncle (Air Force) were veterans of WWII. My husband served in the Army in Germany during the Vietnam era. Veteran's Day is special to me because...
• Your Ten Toughest Questions - Wonder what's been most popular on the site during the past months? I always watch your interests with great interest. Regular emails from readers ask hundreds of questions each year. Patterns...
• Post Election Blues - My recommendation to nix political discussion at work was hotly contested by some individuals who posted on the site this election season. In one recent comment, an individual said that...
• Perfect Networker - I've been asked by many how to succeed in social networking. I share this blog in an attempt to help you be more succesful on this site and in networking. The Art of Relationship Marketing through Online Social Networking Platforms 1. Let's start with why a PerfectNetworker would invite someone to be more successful. Well an invite to the site abundant with networkers is an act of contribution. You should invite networkers you know to be professional whether through first hand experience or from their reputation. 2. Welcome anyone and everyone when they enter the site, how can you assess who is a good contact or who is not. How do you feel when you are made to feel welcome? 3. Those that respond are more apt to understand the principles of networking, which is communication and contribution. 4. Always put the ball in their court. This is a commitment. Conversation should remain light but sincere with nothing being sold, and only an offer to help should be your sincere stance. 5. At some point through birthdays, weekly contact, etc. there should be enough rapport that you will either be welcome to share what you are looking for or more than likely they reciprocate the offer to contribute to you. I find this is about a 3 month time period. Many do not have the patience or determination, but I assure you the reward is worth the wait. 6. Read the Go-Giver, it really is about being a sincere contributor to others' success. As Zig Ziglar says help enough people achieve their dreams and your dreams will be achieved as well. Or maybe it was, 'If you want to achieve your dreams, help others achieve theirs'. You get the idea. 7. Learn about the people you wish to do business with, and the acceptance of this friendship will return dividends to you because people want to refer people you like and trust (Bob Burg). 8. Remember birthdays and take a moment to wish random 'Perfect days' to those you have lost touch with. 9. Meet for a one on one or a phone call when the rapport dictates you would be welcome and trusted to contribute to them. The rest really takes place rather naturally. 10. Don't worry about stats, effort, or those that don't reciprocate... don't keep count, just have fun helping others and that will be fun by itself. 11. Having a photo expedites the rapport by light years because the person you are communicating with feels there is a human on the other side What are others thoughts on what make's a Perfect Network or at least some positive tips on what to do or not do on social and business networking sites? What best practices have you used to network at a recruiter? Warm Regards, Steven Bonacorsi, MBB / Vice President www.linkedin.com/in/StevenBonacorsi 603-401-7047 sbonacorsi@comcast.net http://www.theaitgroup.com
• Millennials: Even Less Likely to Follow the Rules - It's time for yet another new demographic revolution. While the oldest members of Generation Y turn 30, recruiters and consultants alike are starting to turn their attention toward the Millennials, the next generation to enter the work force. That means that the span between the oldest and youngest workers is five generations wide. According to a study of the co-hort released by Accenture this month, Millennials make their employment decisions based on how companies accommodate how they want to use their own mobile devices and other technology. "In addition, more than half (60 percent) of Millennials are either unaware of their companies’ information technology (IT) policies or are not inclined to follow them," says a press release about the study. Whether the Millenials interviewed were in the 14 to 17 year-old group, the 18 to 22 year-old group, or the 23 to 27 year-old group, the survey found that the demand for high-tech devices to communicate was higher than for any other generational group. Other highlights of the survey include:: Millennials want to decide what technology they use. They don't see a need to seek approval to use that technology for work. If the companies where they work have policies about tech usage, the Millennials don't know about them. "Millennials expect employers to provide communication channels such as online chat, instant messaging, mobile text messaging and RSS feeds to communicate with their customers and clients," the study says. The amount of time spent using regular email is falling among Millennials They spend just 30 minutes a week on their blogs. What's the take-away from this study? “To lure them into the workplace, prospective employers must provide state-of-the-art technologies,” said Gary Curtis, managing director of Accenture Technology Consulting. “And if their employers don’t support their preferred technologies, Millennials will acquire and use them anyway. In order to acquire and retain the best talent, organizations must understand the technologies that the new workforce expects and then find a way to support their employees without compromising enterprise security.”
• Doing the Right Thing! - The Kennedy Recruitment Conference just finished up yesterday with Shally's Sourcing Summit. It sure was fun participating and sharing information with a lot of passionate recruiting colleagues. If you have not attended this event before, I highly encourage you to consider attending the spring event in Vegas. Probably my biggest AH-HA moment came from two sessions put on by Ryan Loken (Senior Manager of Talent Services for Wal-Mart) and Don Ramer (CEO of Arbita). Don's presentation was, by far, the most intense and powerful presentation I have seen in years. While both of these speakers have completely different styles, they were both passionate about: Treating people with dignity and respect Doing the right thing Creating raving fans (Ryan's term) as a result of treating people with dignity, respect and doing the right thing! In the current economy, we, as recruiters, are going to be receiving more requests from folks that are struggling to find employment, under-employed, or somewhere in-between. As we know and experience, the recruiting profession, in general, tends to forget the human/compassion side of our industry. We sometimes forget that these requests from 'unemployed and potentially unqualified people' are still coming from human beings! And, as Don illustrated in his message: '...these are our brothers, our sisters, our children...' How do we treat them? Do we engage? Treat them with respect? Go out of our way to help them if we can't employ them? Or do we delete their request and/or send them a canned response telling them they are 'unqualified'? We can make every excuse in the world why we cannot personally touch/help everyone that applies to our respective organizations; BUT . . . each and every day, we can also try and reach out to as many folks as possible and, with those we do interact with - take the time to help. If req. loads are lower, would you invest in helping others in their time of need? Maybe give tips on interviewing? Resume writing and/or finding positions that fit them? I'm certain if you have friends/family members in similar situations you would hope that they are treated with dignity and respect by the recruiters with which they interact. You would hope those recruiters take an extra few minutes to provide interviewing tips, share resume advice or even make a quick recommendation. Sometimes in our quest to 'fill req's,' find new ways to source candidates, improve candidate quality, etc., - we forget about the true nature of our business; Connecting hiring managers with talented professionals and helping professionals find a dream opportunity! We truly do have the ability and opportunity to 'change peoples lives' each and every day.
• Don’t let the numbers deceive you… - The media is painting a scary picture otherwise known as the labor market. Last month’s unemployment numbers are another brushstroke. Over the past 18 months, 3.3 million workers have become jobless. There are currently 10.1 million unemployed workers in this country since late 07. The unemployment rate is at 6.5% and the under employment rate, which measures the number of people only working part-time, but looking for fulltime work, is at an all time high of over 11.1%, The majority of downsizing in the first three quarters of 2008 occurred in the construction, real estate, and mortgage finance industries, while healthcare, IT, energy and green sectors grew. But don’t let the numbers deceive you… remember that the labor market is continuing to experience talent shortages at the top of the pyramid. The 10-million baby-boomer’s retiring over the next eight years is hiding behind the current unemployment rate. Organizations are continuing to struggle and loose experienced talent at all levels. Despite the unemployment rates the numbers continue to reflect we are in the midst of a talent shortage. Recruitment functions of any kind are continuously facing challenges of creatively exploring and identify the correct mix of right sizing, building, outsourcing and/or some combination to continue to be competitive and effective. Remember that the talent shortage is a long term challenge compared to the current economy. Companies that do not have initiatives to identify and retain top talent are probably not focusing on the overall picture and will continue to struggle with talent shortages in both the short and long term of this economy.
• What Do You Get From The Conferences You Attend? Thoughts on My Learning - I think it is helpful to attend every conference - whether you go to one or a dozen each year, with the attitude of a student. Listening to each of the speakers with the anticipation of learning something new each time you enter the room has always worked for me (unfortunately the older I get, the more I need to be reminded of what I'm supposed to know because I'm forgetting a lot of it). lol I attend a lot of sessions because it helps me speak with more confidence and ensure that whatever voice I have resonates positvely or contrasts constructively. At Kennedy this week for example I sat in a panel session where Shannon Seery Gude offered the observation that 'no company careers site is completely accessible via mobile phone...and needs to be.' I loved it. It was a 'Duh...of course...lightbulb' moment for me and immediately I will be incorporated the thought in my own recommendations. It will also get added to our 2009 study of features in our review of Fortune 500 websites...to try to find/see them via mobile. I note whether speakers attend other sessions and I'll add value to what they say as more relevant... since they are still learning too. Two Steves - Bonomo and Fogarty from Adidas did a fabulous keynote talk on employment branding challenges...and I saw them everywhere engaging others on the same subject. Between sessions I often sit at tables with folks I don't know...on purpose to learn from them what keeps them up at night and compare in my mind whether it is the same input as all the people I do know. I visit every booth. Most often I just wish them to 'have a good show'. It is useful to hear their perspective and I quickly note whether the vendors get it, attend sessions, participate in the community...or not. This week I had a discussion with a vendor over whether it is better for the vendors (or a vendor) to drive the vision of staffing's future state...since they have the financial stake, extensive experience, resources and broader reach or, whether there is a way to empower enough staffing leaders to drive not only the vision they have for their firm but to share it with others. I'm still in the camp that if we aren't actually doing it, we need to educate others to make better choices and implement them rather than train them to do it the way we think they should. The difference is subtle but, in my mind a critical difference between a profession and an industry. Staffing is both but the staffing professional needs to know whether she is mapping a process that will make her firm competitive or adapting to a vendors map that maximizes their profit- IMHO. Beware the hype of end-to-end solutions. Occassionally I'm pleasantly surprised that a vendor's new feature adds value or helps to make sense of our incredibly overloaded field and which I can share with colleagues when appropriate. Sometimes I ecen find useful products outside of the booth arena. While surfing the web during an opening session on Monday (isn't it great that you can multi-task on your computer with free wifi in the middle of conference sessions?). Anyway I was sitting next to Kevin Wheeler and he was showing me a learning trends site where a 'mind-mapping' tool was being used to create a visual taxonomy of hundreds of resources in real-time with dozens of participants. It is hard to describe a picture but this was exactly what we saw being made and, as a means to brainstorm collaboratively over the web, it was fabulous! Finally, I get to engage friends over many years and consider ways to give back. While at Kennedy this week, many of us took note about the 50,000 layoff hit at CitiGroup (I have some friends and family I now need to check in on) and I thought 'just how many recruiters have been laid off in the last few weeks? Chris Murdock at Yahoo! prompted another thought when he described how staffing colleagues remaining at Yahoo were trying to build support for thos laid off. So, a final thought: What could we do, more than we are now - as individuals, to assist those folks in our community, recruiters in transition? Is there a real clearinghouse of leads? Is there a means to ensure access via referral? Are there alternatives that can be pursued -even temporarily? Does it matter? The next few months offer a great opportunity for writing. Thanks to all the folks running conferences where I've had a chance to participate this year HR Technology/HR Executive, ERE, HR-XML, Kennedy, SHRM and more. Thanks especially to all the practitioners, the dozens of staffing leaders who have participted on my panels- this week: im Rutledge (Dell), Chis Murdock (Yahoo), Genn Gutmacher (Jobmachine/Arbita) and Russ Moon (Wachovia)
• Room for Growth - Whether you think we're in for a period of economic change like those we've earlier in history, or if you believe we are about to experience the entirely new reinvention of the global economy, it's important for recruiters to look at all the possible opportunities and experiences of economic change. In his book, The Green Collar Economy, Van Jones presents one idea of where new jobs are and where they are going to be in the future: Green-collar jobs are in the growing industries that are helping us kick the oil habit, curb greenhouse-gas emissions, eliminate toxins, and protect natural systems. Today, green-collar workers are installing solar panels, retrofitting buildings to make them more efficient, refining waste oil into biodiesel, erecting wind farms, repairing hybrid cars, building green rooftops, planting trees, constructing transit lines, and so much more. As recruiters, our primary skills are in making connections with others, facilitating the delivery of right resources in the right place, and maintaining relationships through both difficult and easier times. At the same time, our industry doesn't exactly get by on the strength of its reputation for caring and sharing. The term "head hunter" and all the agression it implies has always made some people uncomfortable working with us. So, given our skills and challenges, what place (if any) do you think recruiters will have in the green collar economy?
• Network Science for Recruiters - Rarely do I watch a documentary that has such deep implications for our world as this one. Titled "How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer", this almost 60 minute Australian documentary traces the development of network science. There are many implications for our work as recruiters. I now look at my networks in a whole new way! I highly recommend that you schedule 60 uninterrupted minutes to watch. It's clear to me that LinkedIn promiscuous linkers are the hubs: the people with huge numbers of connections. You'll see in the documentary that the structure of the Internet, power grids, transportation networks, disease and the human cell all follow the same principles and design as our own networks of people. Watch the documentary and think about how you can apply the lessons to our world. Please add your thoughts as comments here.
• Consultants: Are they worth what you pay them? - On any given day over the last few years, human resource professionals probably have read multiple articles about how important it is to match the candidate to the culture of the organization. This is not an easy task. Therefore, many HR professionals have engaged consultants that profess how much experience they have in recruitment marketing strategies and attracting the right talent to any given organization. In good faith, HR professionals have paid these consultants to help them conduct national employment campaigns based on the assurance that the advertising/marketing strategies will attract the right talent to their organization. What many HR professionals never discover is that these consultants have never worked in an HR department; yet they put themselves out there on various websites and podcasts as an expert. Caveat emptor, because these self-proclaimed professionals have never stepped in an HR office. If you want to increase your odds of hiring the right talent for your organization, check out the credentials.
• Looking Back into the Future: Who is Shooting for the Moon? - In 100 years, what will be remembered about the early years of the 21st century...globally. Economic meltdown? First African American president? Wars? DNA code breaking? The last game played in Yankee stadium? Historians of the future might very well note instead the successful and historic spacewalk by Chinese Astronauts (buried in most newspapers and given no more than a few seconds on TV news) in their quest to put their country on the moon by 2012. No matter that the feat comes forty years after the US first put a man on the moon. We may be just beginning to realize how game changing this 2008 Chinese event is. By 2012, will we be wondering how we could have missed it? Which country do you think will attract the best and brightest engineers from around the globe? China's aspirations aside, US firms and staffing leaders too often view the war for talent from inside our gilded cage. It is hard to envision [and 20 years ago it would have been laughable] but it is very possible that our best and brightest talent will have to emigrate to find opportunity in the not so distant future unless we take a closer look at our own aspirations as a society and commit to longer term objectives.
• The Ultimate Job Fair Giveaway Mug - So, I've been thinking about job fair giveaways. And, I am not saying that if you see Head2Head at a job fair, you are going to get this mug. I am saying that when you spend time thinking about how to do something different with pens, note pads, tote bags, fridge magnets and coffee mugs, you might as well start designing them. I did this one at Zazzle.com.
• Who is responsible for feedback? Certainly not the lawyers - A recent Workforce Online article caught my attention…and one of the comments did more than that. The article, Tension Levels Rise as Recruiters Deliver the Bad News, was about the problems facing all recruiters who waffle about closing the loop with every candidate who applies. The article was making the point that in this economic downturn, disappointed finalists may be more aggressive and push back. Personally, I hope so but seriously doubt it beyond a few minor exceptions. Anyway what really stuck in my craw was one of the lawyers quoted for the article who said '… you’re not going to call the 350 unsuccessful candidates for lower-level store positions,' he says. 'At a higher level, you are going to call unsuccessful candidates, and the best thing you can tell them is that another candidate more closely fit the position. Leave it at that.' Despite the fact that there are many ways to reach 350 people without calling all of them, my answer to that lawyer in particular and to lawyers with similar “legalâ€� advice in general is “Thank you, I appreciate your advice on protecting our butts but we are a firm attempting to move forward in an increasingly transparent world. We know that if we can successfully create a great experience for every candidate regardless of whether they win the job then we will differentiate ourselves in the industry and gain market share. You are fired. We’ll be looking for a lawyer that helps us develop the means to offer quality feedback at multiple levels that can be vigorously defended. Not because its the right thing but because it will drive performance and fill our pipelines. Do you have any recommendations since this is obviously not your competenceâ€�? Fortunately, the Workforce email als offered a contrasting link, a Fistful of Talent blog by Jennifer McClure who works in a Cincinnati-based recruitment and coaching firm. Her blog’s title Providing Feedback to Rejected Candidates - Will You Please Suck It Up?, said it all. I agree totally with Jennifer’s comments and would go even further suggesting that in mapping a 21st century recruiting processes, a company aspiring to provide a world-class candidate experience is not credible unless for every recruiter and every job: - A promise [declared on the website and kept]to every candidate when applying that the firm will a)acknowledge receipt of the application; b) provide all who apply [candidates] with the means to determine their status; c) acknowledge to all who apply [candidates] as having [self-reported] that they meet basic qualifications…or not…or that they haven’t been “consideredâ€� and why; and, d) to define that an opening will not “closeâ€� unless all candidates have been informed. - A promise [declared on the website and kept]that all candidates considered as competitive [finalists] receive feedback – a clear, disciplined and recorded script that focuses on skills, knowledge and experience that the finalist might consider seeking in order to compete more effectively for a similar position in the future. Companies that excel in this arena will 1) differentiate themselves as industry leaders; 2) cause engagement scores in their firm to rise; and, 3) measurably contribute to driving up their firm’s performance. IMHO - Today, most firms claiming their candidate experiences are positive are totally in denial. Fewer than ¼ even measure the satisfaction of finalists using [irrelevant] Likert style measures. No one is truly measuring the damage they are doing to the Candidates [all those who apply] themselves primarily because the blinders are 100 years old despite the availability of technology based solutions.
• It's Not All About Layoffs - With all the news headlines about layoffs I've been reading, you'd think it would be easy to find an application designer, a part-time HR generalist, or an IT auditor. If you know anyone who fits those descriptions in or around Toronto, please let me know. (You can keep up with our HotJobs by subscribing to our newsletters.)
• Workforce Readiness: The front end of a staffing supply chain - If you had a bucket of money to invest in support of Workforce Readiness programs- millions of dollars and an army of 250,000 volunteers where would you start? Would you lobby to raise graduation standards from high school state by state (e.g. require 4 years of math and english of ALL students) in order to improve the quality of a future workforce? Would you invest in increasing the graduation rates among 'at risk' teenage students to reduce the drop out rate. Would you build partnerships with federal, state and community governments to support and expand their existing programs? Would you consider investing further down the workforce supply chain by trying to re-engage nurses and other health care workers who have left their profession to reduce the talent gap. Similarly is there a value in retraining female/male scientists and engineers if they take time out to raise children, change professions or simply drop out and eventually consider returning but need assistance to get ready? Or, would you invest in the furthest end of the chain- helping boomers with critical skills reinvent and revise their skills and experience in more flexible roles to mentor, train, develop and support a new generation? ('There are as many NASA engineers over 65 years of age as under'). What are the implications for the US as a global competitor if this scenario is accurate: For every 100,000 students entering the 9th grade today only 68,000 will graduate from High School in 4 years. For each group of 68,000 HS graduates only 40,000 will enter college. For each group of 40,000 entering college students only 18,000 will graduate (in 6 years) For each group of 18,000 graduates, there are no more than 300 who have engineering degrees. Within each group of 300 engineers about 50 are degreed Mechanical Engineers. For every 50 Mechanical Engineers, 6 are women. (2 of these are foreign born nationals who won't get a J1, H1B or any other visa and will leave the US. 3 more will get a job here but leave Engineering within 5 years. 2 of these will want to eventually return but won't be hired because they have become obsolete and have no resources to re-engage.) If this above were true then within 15 years only 1 mechanical engineer will remain working in the US seeking a fruitful career in her chosen profession as a specialist and/or technical leader...from each starting pool of 100,000 (or maybe 50,000 if you are just counting women) entering the 9th grade today. Complicating this discussion is whether the concern of employers about workforce readiness is national or global. Do they really care about increasing the readiness of critical skills, basic skills or any skills withing the boundaries of the US...or do they assume the challenge is to find the most cost effective human assets regardless of geography? Is it less expensive to invest in another country than the US to produce the same product? What price is paid ( and to what effect) if we develop a workforce ready to support critical skills that are no longer developed in sufficient supply to be supported? Earlier this week, SHRM staff hosted 150 consultants, academics, and practitioners with a broad range of expertise in technology, staffing, government, non-profit, HR, compensation, etc. to delve into the issues of workforce readiness. The wide-ranging, conversations over 2 days were well designed- an open forum in small groups and large. The consensus was that there is an opportunity for the HR profession in general and SHRM in particular to fund and lead workforce readiness initiatives that make a difference to employers and the workforce. At the end, we left having detailed prioities and recommendations that will be further refined in coming weeks and, I fully expect, acted on. Have you looked at your company's workforce supply-chain lately? Is your firm commited to finding the right person at the right time w/o ever a thought to the pipeline that got that quality candidate to your door? Is workforce planning an empty exercise or a functional and analytical process that leads to improved decisions and long term investment in long term intiatives that add to the pipeline for everyone?
• The Focus is on Compensation - Lately I've been seeing an *awful* lot of compensation openings (Director of, analyst, specialist, etc.) coming across the wires around the country. With the recent economic fallout I think a lot of executives aren't going to be happy with comp restructuring in the next 12 months. Not only that, but I wonder if compensation model numbers in general are going to fall? How many companies will have wage freezes on? Interestingly, these openings haven't been in the financial field. Manufacturing, health/bio, some technology. Let's be honest, it isn't exactly the *best* time to be a recruiter. I'm working on a lot of independent projects right now. More and more recruiters are flooding the market, especially in Seattle due to some recent corporate restructuring around town. The name of the game now, more than ever, is networking and working your contacts. The agencies are faring a little better, but a *lot* of the corporate recruiters I know cringe at the thought of returning (or entering) the agency market right now. The agency comp structure in Seattle tends to be rather lower than the cost of living, making it hard to make a decent wage if clients aren't hiring. I think it will be interesting to see what happens. Most of the projections I've seen are saying things won't start to look up until June of 2009, probably closer to the end of the summer. So we have 7+ months of panic and hardship to look forward to? It'll be interesting to see what the compensation trends look like both in recruiting and across the board by then.
• Heroes at Home - Heroes at Home(sm) Wish Registry Available to All Active Military Personnel Through October 31 Sears continues its unwavering commitment to the military by fulfilling all Servicepersons' wishes this holiday season HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of itsunwavering commitment to the men, women and families of the U.S. armedforces, Sears Holdings Corporation is pleased to extend the deadline of theHeroes at Home Wish Registry(sm) to Friday, October 31 and encourages allactive military personnel to apply. In consultation with the U.S.Department of Defense, Sears is pleased to extend the popular program thatenables America to fulfill wishes for up to 20,000 deserving militaryfamilies and personnel this holiday season. Through this offering, Sears iscontinuing its long-standing tradition of support of the military whosesacrifices deserve much recognition. The first 20,000 service members who apply and can be validated with anactive duty military status can become part of the Wish Registry. Activeservice personnel who participate in the Heroes at Home Wish Registry willremain anonymous to ensure compliance with the military's standards ofconduct regulations. Ultimately, all 20,000 registrants will be grantedSears gift cards in equal amounts, which will be determined based on thenumber of entries and donations. The gift card denominations will notexceed $550. 'Since 1916, Sears has been committed to America's service men andwomen with programs to employ veterans and reserve pay differential andbenefits for full-time associates called up for active duty,' said DonHamblen, Chief Marketing Officer, Sears. 'Last year, Sears launched Heroesat Home to help military personnel renovate and rebuild their homes. Today,we are pleased to expand the Heroes at Home Wish Registry to incorporateelements to make the wishes of our military come true for the holidays andenable our customers to provide a direct 'thank you' to members of themilitary.' Sears created the Wish Registry specifically to help identify heroesboth domestically and overseas to show thanks for their service thisholiday season. Sears partnered with the USO to help communicate the WishRegistry to military members, and will be making a $250,000 donation tosupport USO programs and services around the world. Military personnel canlog on to http://www.sears.com/wish through October 31 to apply for the WishRegistry. Between November 2 and December 25, 2008, Sears will inviteAmerica to help fulfill their wishes with a Sears Gift Card. Bill Kiss, Divisional Vice President Program Development said, 'TheHeroes at Home Wish Registry allows us to connect with the militarycommunity on a very personal level, and gives Americans the opportunity tofulfill their wishes. It's an extremely powerful program, with thepotential to produce extremely meaningful results.' The Heroes at Home Wish Registry, one of Sears Holdings Corporations'multiple programs supporting the military and their families, enablesSears' customers to thank America's military heroes for the sacrifices theymake for our country. However, the program starts with the Sears family,not just their customers. The first donations the registry received werefrom Sears associates, senior executives, and vendors featured at theretailer. The Heroes at Home program also provides support to service members,veterans and their families through joint efforts with various nonprofitorganizations, including Rebuilding Together, Inc. Sears Holdings hasspearheaded nationwide fundraising efforts in the spring and holidayseasons over the past year and has raised more than $5 million through theHeroes at Home program for Rebuilding Together. Sears has actively supported this country's servicemen and women withpride and respect since the company was founded more than a century ago.Each year Sears matches reservists pay and benefits while they are serving.In 2005, Sears Holdings received the Secretary of Defense Employer SupportFreedom Award, which publicly recognizes American employers who provideexceptional support to their employees who voluntarily serve the nation inthe National Guard and Reserve. In 2006, Sears Holdings also was honoredwith the Military Officers Association of America's Distinguished ServiceAward, in recognition of the company's support of associates in the Guardand Reserve and military families nationwide. To find out more about the Heroes at Home program, or to refer amilitary family or veteran to the home renovation program throughRebuilding Together, visit http://www.sears.com or call 1-800-473-4229. SearsHoldings' ongoing commitment to assisting troops and their familiesincludes several recruiting and employment programs, as well as a militarypay differential to Sears associates employed (full time) who arereservists serving on active duty. Reservists who are employed full-timeare allowed to continue participating in life insurance, medical and dentalprograms. About Sears Holdings Corporation Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD) is the nation's fourthlargest broadline retailer with over $50 billion in annual revenues andapproximately 3,800 full-line and specialty retail stores in the UnitedStates and Canada. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer aswell as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, home electronics and automotiverepair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsmanand DieHard, and a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labelsas Lands' End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the Apostrophe andCovington brands. It also has Martha Stewart Everyday products, which areoffered exclusively in the U.S. by Kmart and in Canada by Sears Canada. Thecompany is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than13 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit SearsHoldings' website at http://www.searsholdings.com. About Rebuilding Together Rebuilding Together is the nation's largest nonprofit organizationworking to preserve homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providingfree home repair and modification services to those in need. With the helpof everyday citizen volunteers, skilled trades people, the support of localbusiness and major corporate partners, Rebuilding Together affiliates inAmerica's largest cities and smallest towns make life considerably betterfor thousands of low-income homeowners. Beyond its core home repair work,Rebuilding Together also rehabilitates community centers and conducts homemodification and repair programs that focus on aging in place. In addition,Rebuilding Together has programs dedicated to energy efficiency, veteran'shousing, and disaster recovery and reconstruction. Rebuilding Together iscurrently celebrating 20 years as a national organization and thecompletion of over 100,000 homes thanks to the efforts of more than 200affiliates nationwide. For more information, visithttp://www.RebuildingTogether.org. About the USO The USO (United Service Organizations) provides morale, welfare andrecreational services to U.S. military personnel and their families. TheUSO is a nonprofit, charitable organization, relying on the generosity ofthe American people to support its programs and services. The USO issupported by individual donors, Worldwide Strategic Partners and CombinedFederal Campaign (CFC-11381). For more information, please visit our Website at http://www.uso.org.
• Heroes at Home - Heroes at Home(sm) Wish Registry Available to All Active Military Personnel Through October 31 Sears continues its unwavering commitment to the military by fulfilling all Servicepersons' wishes this holiday season HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of itsunwavering commitment to the men, women and families of the U.S. armedforces, Sears Holdings Corporation is pleased to extend the deadline of theHeroes at Home Wish Registry(sm) to Friday, October 31 and encourages allactive military personnel to apply. In consultation with the U.S.Department of Defense, Sears is pleased to extend the popular program thatenables America to fulfill wishes for up to 20,000 deserving militaryfamilies and personnel this holiday season. Through this offering, Sears iscontinuing its long-standing tradition of support of the military whosesacrifices deserve much recognition. The first 20,000 service members who apply and can be validated with anactive duty military status can become part of the Wish Registry. Activeservice personnel who participate in the Heroes at Home Wish Registry willremain anonymous to ensure compliance with the military's standards ofconduct regulations. Ultimately, all 20,000 registrants will be grantedSears gift cards in equal amounts, which will be determined based on thenumber of entries and donations. The gift card denominations will notexceed $550. 'Since 1916, Sears has been committed to America's service men andwomen with programs to employ veterans and reserve pay differential andbenefits for full-time associates called up for active duty,' said DonHamblen, Chief Marketing Officer, Sears. 'Last year, Sears launched Heroesat Home to help military personnel renovate and rebuild their homes. Today,we are pleased to expand the Heroes at Home Wish Registry to incorporateelements to make the wishes of our military come true for the holidays andenable our customers to provide a direct 'thank you' to members of themilitary.' Sears created the Wish Registry specifically to help identify heroesboth domestically and overseas to show thanks for their service thisholiday season. Sears partnered with the USO to help communicate the WishRegistry to military members, and will be making a $250,000 donation tosupport USO programs and services around the world. Military personnel canlog on to http://www.sears.com/wish through October 31 to apply for the WishRegistry. Between November 2 and December 25, 2008, Sears will inviteAmerica to help fulfill their wishes with a Sears Gift Card. Bill Kiss, Divisional Vice President Program Development said, 'TheHeroes at Home Wish Registry allows us to connect with the militarycommunity on a very personal level, and gives Americans the opportunity tofulfill their wishes. It's an extremely powerful program, with thepotential to produce extremely meaningful results.' The Heroes at Home Wish Registry, one of Sears Holdings Corporations'multiple programs supporting the military and their families, enablesSears' customers to thank America's military heroes for the sacrifices theymake for our country. However, the program starts with the Sears family,not just their customers. The first donations the registry received werefrom Sears associates, senior executives, and vendors featured at theretailer. The Heroes at Home program also provides support to service members,veterans and their families through joint efforts with various nonprofitorganizations, including Rebuilding Together, Inc. Sears Holdings hasspearheaded nationwide fundraising efforts in the spring and holidayseasons over the past year and has raised more than $5 million through theHeroes at Home program for Rebuilding Together. Sears has actively supported this country's servicemen and women withpride and respect since the company was founded more than a century ago.Each year Sears matches reservists pay and benefits while they are serving.In 2005, Sears Holdings received the Secretary of Defense Employer SupportFreedom Award, which publicly recognizes American employers who provideexceptional support to their employees who voluntarily serve the nation inthe National Guard and Reserve. In 2006, Sears Holdings also was honoredwith the Military Officers Association of America's Distinguished ServiceAward, in recognition of the company's support of associates in the Guardand Reserve and military families nationwide. To find out more about the Heroes at Home program, or to refer amilitary family or veteran to the home renovation program throughRebuilding Together, visit http://www.sears.com or call 1-800-473-4229. SearsHoldings' ongoing commitment to assisting troops and their familiesincludes several recruiting and employment programs, as well as a militarypay differential to Sears associates employed (full time) who arereservists serving on active duty. Reservists who are employed full-timeare allowed to continue participating in life insurance, medical and dentalprograms. About Sears Holdings Corporation Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD) is the nation's fourthlargest broadline retailer with over $50 billion in annual revenues andapproximately 3,800 full-line and specialty retail stores in the UnitedStates and Canada. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer aswell as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, home electronics and automotiverepair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsmanand DieHard, and a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labelsas Lands' End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the Apostrophe andCovington brands. It also has Martha Stewart Everyday products, which areoffered exclusively in the U.S. by Kmart and in Canada by Sears Canada. Thecompany is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than13 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit SearsHoldings' website at http://www.searsholdings.com. About Rebuilding Together Rebuilding Together is the nation's largest nonprofit organizationworking to preserve homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providingfree home repair and modification services to those in need. With the helpof everyday citizen volunteers, skilled trades people, the support of localbusiness and major corporate partners, Rebuilding Together affiliates inAmerica's largest cities and smallest towns make life considerably betterfor thousands of low-income homeowners. Beyond its core home repair work,Rebuilding Together also rehabilitates community centers and conducts homemodification and repair programs that focus on aging in place. In addition,Rebuilding Together has programs dedicated to energy efficiency, veteran'shousing, and disaster recovery and reconstruction. Rebuilding Together iscurrently celebrating 20 years as a national organization and thecompletion of over 100,000 homes thanks to the efforts of more than 200affiliates nationwide. For more information, visithttp://www.RebuildingTogether.org. About the USO The USO (United Service Organizations) provides morale, welfare andrecreational services to U.S. military personnel and their families. TheUSO is a nonprofit, charitable organization, relying on the generosity ofthe American people to support its programs and services. The USO issupported by individual donors, Worldwide Strategic Partners and CombinedFederal Campaign (CFC-11381). For more information, please visit our Website at http://www.uso.org.
• Happy 233rd Birthday Marines! - Semper Fi!
• How do I create interest when cold calling? - It's not knowing what to say that makes most people fear cold calling. Here, coach Sophie Robertson outlines five ways to start a conversation. Robertson, now the director of Younique Coaching, says that back when she started recruiting in 1990 - at the beginning of the last recession - her daily target was 30 cold calls, much higher than most consultants have today. She was well known among her colleagues for constantly being on the phone, and was always being asked how she managed to engage so many strangers in conversation and keep them talking. Regardless of the market conditions and your call targets, she says, 'you still need to know how to start a phone conversation and what to actually talk about.' It helps to have empathy with your prospects, she says. 'Just put yourself in your potential client's shoes. It's a busy day, you have so far had five other recruiters call you. They all sound the same - that is, they are calling you because they have to, not because they have anything to say to you specifically. What's your mood like when the sixth cold call comes through?' Robertson says there are some basic ways to break this cycle for your client: Make them laugh. - this is a sure icebreaker. If you are funny, use it and make a joke. For example, if the prospect asks you to send some information, see it for the fob off that it is and make a joke: 'When you receive the information, will you file it under 'B'? 'B' for bin?' If you are not (and Robertson says she falls into this group) then laugh at yourself. When asking for the client visit, put the purpose in perspective: 'When we meet, at least you can decide whether you want to deal with me or not!' Robertson says this has always gotten her a visit. 'People are nice. They even say: 'I'm sure that's not the case'.' Make them feel special. Make the prospect feel that you are calling them because you have a reason, not because you have to make your marketing quota. 'Hi, I'm Jo from Company X. I'm calling you because one of my candidates has expressed interest in your company'. Tell them something they don't know. This requires you to read, listen and absorb information, Robertson says. 'Hi, I'm Greg from Company X. I wanted to call to see how your employees are taking the news on the possible upcoming merger with xyz?' Robertson says you will be amazed how often the employees are the last to hear what's going on. 'You become their funnel to news.' Make them curious about you or your service. 'Hi, I wanted to call you because we recruit for a few companies related to your industry and wondered whether you might be a potential client for us.' This also works with 'companies in your area, street, building, competitors' etc. Respect them and their time. 'Hi, I'm Nicole from company X. Have I caught you at a good time?' If they say 'no', ask when is a better time, and ensure you call back at that time, Robertson says. 'If they say, 'I have two minutes', get to the point!' 'Lastly, but importantly, always have in mind what you want from the call,' Robertson says. 'Be very clear when you pick up the phone what your purpose is - for example, a client visit, job order or referral. Remember you are more likely to get what you want, if you set your sights on it!'
• How Common is Office Bullying? - Technically, it isn't time for a new poll. Our Halloween fun post is still up and running, but after reading Janet's comments on workplace bullying, I wondered just how common this kind of behaviour is in the contemporary office.
• Crazy economic times call for crazy candidate behavior? - It is bad enough that we don't know what is going on inside of a candidate's head when they walk into that interview room with the VP of Operations that took us three weeks, personal favors, and a lunch with the head of Human Resources to set up. Now we have to worry about a candidate that is hard up on funds and desparate for a job because they have been out of work for six months. We have all seen what that often leads too: crazy tactics and extreme measures a candidate will go too to land that paycheck... err, I mean job. Candidates are not dumb when they call us. They know we are swamped with resumes and working as hard as possible to find openings in a tough economy. The best type of job seeker to deal with on the phone is the one that understands this. However, human nature strikes when a candidate realizes that the flooded market is calling on them to be different from the rest of the bunch. No different than what us recruiters do when the job seeker market is tight... we brand ourselves and market. Well, now it is going horribly wrong. Let me give you an example... The other day, a co-worker of mine got an email from a candidate who has been out of work for quite some time. It seemed that she had decided to co-brand her job search effort with that of her friend, a local tailor in the Twin Cities. The deal in the email was this: if you get her a job and end her search, you will 'win' a free $100 gifft card to her friend's tailor shop. Umm, let me think about this... no, sorry, not interested. At first I laughed it off, but then I got to thinking. Wow, this is what the job seeker world has come too? We are now having candidates try and bribe us to work on their behalf? Placement fees and commissions are no longer enough? Now I am only going to return calls from candidates who offer me free car washes, donuts every Friday for a year, back rubs, house cleaning services, and baby-sitting? A well-defined resume is not enough for me to call? Is Monster and CareerBuilder eventually going to add a field on a resume submission form thaat says: 'Recruiter Incentive'? Now of course I am writing this with major tongue-in-cheek. After all, not many people have stood up for the displaced workers as much as I have (ie - my very public battle with Macy's). I think employers out there do not take enough responsibility and need to be held accountable for their Talent Management strategies. I hope that one day I will be able to start my own outplacement firm to help those I can't help now. But this situation did raise a serious concern for me, and I hope the trend does not continue where us recruiters have to resort to reading 'extra incentive emails' from our candidates. -Robert Stanke http://www.robertstanke.com
• Online Employer Reputation Monitoring - I have been writing about utilizing social media and social networking to connect to candidates and build candidate communities here on EXCELER8ion for about 3 years, and in just the last 6 months, I have felt a very powerful wave of corporate acceptance and understanding that they need to have a social recruiting strategy. Large [...]
• Podcast: Nick Fishman of employeescreenIQ - While at the recent Fall ERE Expo I sat down with Nick Fishman, Chief Marketing Officer of employeescreenIQ, a global background screening company, for a quick interview recorded live on the exhibition hall floor. Nick offers some really great insight and information for the HR professional community as well as for fellow marketers. Enjoy! Podcast links: Nick mentions a recent Webinar they hosted on new FTC "red flag" guidelines every employer needs to be aware of, which is accessible here: You may also enjoy a few interviews Nick conducted while at ERE of Joel Cheesman of Cheezhead, Steve Curtis of iCIMS, and me, Jonathan Goodman, which can be found here: HR Supplier Profile: employeescreenIQ
• The Consolidation Myth in the HR Marketplace. And the Importance of Marketing. - Bill Kutik wrote a very good article in HRE Online this week titled Recruiting Software Goes Berserk -- Again! Bill says "After seeming to settle down and consolidate for a while, recruiting software has once again become the most competitive, contentious and confused sector in all of HR technology. Why? Because they still haven't gotten it right!". (Please read the entire article - it's a good read). I agree with Bill that the recruiting software space is highly competitive - but so is just about every other product category in HR, from employee benefits to training & development. But on a macro level, I have never seen the consolidation that many experts predicted in the HR technology space. As far back as 2005 we blogged about what we felt was the consolidation myth in the HR space and how the number of HR vendors would continue to grow, not decline. How did we know this? As the owners of HRmarketer.com, we have the opportunity to speak with hundreds of HR vendors each quarter and a lot of these businesses are start-ups who purchase HRmarketer.com memberships months before they launch their product(s) to help familiarize themselves with the space and prepare their marketing plans. And for every HR vendor that was acquired or closed their doors, we were seeing at least two companies open their doors as new entrants in the HR marketplace. But why? Some say the reason is because "we still haven't gotten it right". I disagree. There is a lot more to it. In competitive markets, one never gets it right because of a concept called innovation. There is always some young mind (or veteran mind like Dave Duffield) working on a new and better way of doing something. It never stops. The technologies did not exist five years ago that make it possible for many of today's offerings. And we'll say the same thing ten years from now. But innovation does go in cycles and the last 7 years have presented the perfect storm of opportunity for HR start-ups including: (1) Easier access to technology (a.k.a. decreased entry barriers). What would have cost millions to build ten years ago can be built today for a fraction of that - and be a better application. (Incidentally, this is why legacy providers like Lawson are going to have a tough time competing the next ten years). (2) Growing need for quality HR services and recognition of HR as a strategic component of the business. (3) (at least up until a few months ago) Easy and low cost of capital. And this is why in just about every industry and profession, we were seeing more, not less. Innovation combined with the right market conditions. Jason Calacanis had an excellent post that touched upon some of these reasons titled The Future of Startups (long but EXCELLENT). I especially like his thoughts on The Zero Cost Start Up, The Try Everything Era and Longevity is Innovative. So what does all this mean? Competition in the HR marketplace will only get more intense in the coming years. On a macro level, there will be no consolidation for quite some time because as I wrote back in July, this is still a young industry in historical terms - the profitable and vast "mid market" is untapped and smaller talent management firms are on more equal footing when competing in this space. In fact, one could argue they are on better footing because they don't have the cost structure and legacy platforms to contend with like their larger competitors do. What will differentiate many of the HR vendors is ------------------ marketing. "....marketing is the foundation for success. Companies who use marketing as the basis for strategy are likely to acquire leadership faster and with less risk". By the way, those aren't my words, they belong to Peter Drucker :-)
• Qualtrics: Lowering the Barriers to Great Research - I love business ideas that challenge false choices. Companies like Wal-Mart and Dell become industry titans in part by tackling the false choice between offering products of low-cost and products of high-quality. Companies such Ikea and Target dispel the notion that the best product designers can't produce for the masses. The notion that a beer can't both taste great and be less filling... well, you get the point. Qualtrics, a company which describes itself as "a market leader in Internet-based, electronic survey creation, analysis and distribution" has developed a survey tool sophisticated enough for a Ph.D and simple enough to use for an intern. Great research capability is now accessible to anyone who wants to reach out and get it (and buy it of course!). Lowering the barriers of entry to create great research is one of the many promises of the Qualtrics research suite. I interviewed Ryan Smith, Director at Qualtrics several weeks ago about their research suite, his view of the survey tools marketplace, and the use of data in organizational decision-making. Here's an edited summary of our discussion: What’s your view of the survey tool market? Ryan: There are two sides of the spectrum. The get-in and get-out low-cost solutions and then the high-end tools. Qualtrics addresses the high-end, supporting the most demanding customers. Low-end tools limit research capability and data-collection. Sophisticated users in academic and research institutions will not use a tool that has limitations. Though Qualtrics can address both ends of the market by serving those who require depth of functionality and those who need something easy to use. We aim to lower the barriers to entry to great research with the ability to scale-up to meet the needs of the most demanding researchers. For example, one research university has 1,500 users and has required no training. Many have jumped off the low-end solutions to Qualtrics and won’t go back to the lower end tools. They've discovered that there is tremendous value in research done well and the decision making it supports. Describe your market and your customer base. Ryan: While we work with most of the leading universities in the US, the majority of Qualtrics customers are corporate, comprising 15-20% of the Fortune 500. Qualtrics has about 30,000 active users. Within the corporate segment, internal functions using the research suite are Human Resources, Marketing, and all the way through the organization up to the Boards of Directors. To what degree can you help with survey and content development? Ryan: The number one problem people have with survey development is the answer portion. Most people don’t have an issue coming up with logical questions. It’s offering the answers that causes hesitation. Qualtrics provides a library of questions complete with different types of responses. For those who license Qualtrics for their organization, you can even build an internal knowledge-base, so that when people transition into new roles or move around the organization the history and knowledge-base stays intact and ready to build upon. Professional services is available to help develop the survey, it’s metrics, flow, and overall design. One of the biggest impacts that Qualtrics has is to improve survey response rates: from the way the survey is presented, the way it flows, and is supported by the software itself and through the consultative support Qualtrics provides. What’s your view of decision making capability within organizations today? Ryan: You need to use data to make decisions, if not you’re using opinions. As one CEO says, “If you’ve got data, we’ll use data, if you’ve opinions, we’ll use mine!” Leading companies such as Google and Microsoft use data, not just stats, to help make every decision. Qualtrics helps companies bridge the all-important gap, to understand not only “what” but “why” something happens. One example: an NBA team surveyed game attendees to determine how they experienced noise levels in the arena. By using Qualtrics, they were able to tie responses to where the fans sat in the arena. They discovered not only that the arena is too loud but alos where it's too loud. Overall, huge opportunity exists as the research use within organizations is still sporadic. Qualtrics has a vision where data capture is embedded in processes and across Web sites and always available, and all management sees is the data. Do you see research developing as a core capability and essential skill for all organizations? Ryan: Yes, in order to compete, you've got to do research. Otherwise, you're just throwing mud at the wall. In areas of product development and innovation, people think they know, but their too close to their own products. At Qualtrics, we use our own tool to test new ideas with existing customers. We learn every time we send a survey something new and valuable. Ryan let me know that they've got plans to further support Human Resources professionals with new modules and resources, joining dedicated measurement tools in the HR space such as Improved Experience and other leading feedback management tools like Beeliner Surveys.
• The First HRchitect Beauty Pageant – globalability what? - I attended the first HRchitect Beauty Pageant today that was all about talent acquisition systems. We blogged about it last week and received some interesting commentary as well (see comments). Kudos to HRchitect for making it happen! There were only a few minor technical bumps and otherwise was a fine event with brief but comprehensive presentations. For those of you keeping score at home, these pageants are a series of 90-minute webinars where up to six vendors will compete for the votes from an estimated 200 HR professionals in attendance. They're hosted by HRchitect, an HR technology consulting firm that helps companies select the right technology for their HR and talent management needs. Each participating vendor has about 7 minutes to show their stuff: Evening Gown, Swimsuit, Talent, and Interview sections. In this first one today – Authoria, Silkroad, ADP VirtualEdge, MrTed and iCIMS – all competed in the talent acquisition system pageant. I was expecting some cool creative things today. I listened to each presentation with primarily a marketing ear, but also as a potential buyer. I'm sure all the vendors in the pageant have quality TA solutions for their respective markets, but man, what's with the jargon? Egads. I won't call anybody out in particular, but overall I thought the sales pitches just weren't very good. Before I tell you who I thought won though, and who really did win, let's discuss the word globalability. What the hell is that? Do HR and executive management use terms like that? This and many others were pervasive in the presentations. So even though each vendor made their own case for: User collaboration (HR, recruiters and hiring managers) Streamlining workflow processes Suites of compatible and/or stand-alone modules Improving the applicant experience Globalability Most of them lacked clarity and marketing creativity. The workflow productivity improvement solutions were confusing; I'd sooner stick with mailroom couriers for HR, recruiters and hiring managers (think Secret of My Success), and spreadsheets for tracking applicants and employees. However, Authoria was strong with their live product demonstration and iCIMS (who won) gave a clear albeit not very creative presentation. For my money, Silkroad had the strongest pitch based on clear messaging, scope of solutions/modules, little jargon and a very creative, engaging presentation. I'd give them a test drive if I was in the market. I look forward to more HRchitect Beauty Pageants. This is good for a noisy, ever-increasingly commoditized and competitive (and somewhat anemic) talent management marketplace. Now step it up, folks, 'cause I'll be watching. Bump, bump – oh yeah – chick-a-chick-ahhhhhhhhhh. Post by Kevin Grossman
• HRmarketer Offering a Marketing Bailout Plan for HR Vendors - "I just don't have the cash flow at the moment but I need sales leads. Can you work with me?" Yes we can. This is a tough economy. Worse than the dot com collapse in the late 1990s. Much worse. I know because I launched a new business (Fisher Vista, LLC) in 2000 and while business was bad here in Silicon Valley, it was still going well in other parts of the Country. This business slowdown is not only coast-to-coast, it's global. But hang in there. It will get better. It always does. In the meantime, maybe HRmarketer can help so that you don’t do something foolish like suspend your marketing. In tough economic times, the gut instinct is to slash the marketing budget but it's a huge mistake. Marketing cannot be stopped and started because there is a lag time between campaigns and sales. Suspending marketing creates serious gaps in your prospect pipeline – something you can't just kick-start when good times return. So, we've announced a “reverse lay-away” program of sorts that will help HR suppliers continue their critical (as in lead generating) marketing activities during these challenging times. We're allowing qualified vendors to pay interest-free monthly installments over a 12-month period for many of our most effective lead-generating services, including direct e-mail list rental campaigns, web site and SEO work, white paper development and HRmarketer.com memberships. This is not the dreaded "credit" word as there is no interest. We're simply giving HR vendors flexible payment options. As an example, a supplier who invests in a direct marketing campaign can pay for the campaign over a one-year period with small monthly payments while they realize revenue from the campaign’s leads. We've enjoyed nearly ten years of growing revenue and are fortunate to be in a healthy cash position, enabling us to assist our valued customers (the ones who have supported us over the years) in maintaining their most critical marketing activities during this tough economy. It's the right thing to do and it makes good business sense for both parties. If you are interested in learning more just give us a call at 831-685-9700 or send us an email at sales (at) hrmarketer.com And as always, we thank our customers. You're the best. Hang in there. Mark Willaman Founder and President Fisher Vista, LLC mwillaman (at) hrmarketer.com
• Getting Your PR Program Off the Ground - HRmarketer's public relations team recently emerged from its bunker to host a webinar titled PR 101: Get Your PR Program off the Ground. It's now available at HRmarketer.com for both attendees and the public, via the following link: http://www.hrmarketer.com/home/webinars09252008.htm Yours truly, along with fellow PR professional Gail DeLano, talked over the basic components of planning and executing a solid PR program. Highlights included determining your key audiences, targeting the proper media outlets, the importance of reading trade publications, and the benefits of a concise and newsworthy press release (no, they're not dead). Other topics featured analyst relations, editorial calendars, pitching stories, and search-optimized press releases. In five years of working with HRmarketer clients, I've assisted those who either: A) wore many hats and didn't have the time to do PR properly; B) had no training, yet drew "the short straw;" or C) simply didn't know where to begin. Our advance audience poll validated that most HR / benefits suppliers find themselves in one of these scenarios, with lack of time the biggest cause. It's a bit scary to read that Gail and I have 40-plus years of combined PR experience—we must have been 15 when we started our careers! Attendees seemed eager for the insight, because after a 50-minute presentation the webinar shifted into Q&A mode and continued another 30 minutes. Questions ranged from whether press releases really matter to getting more mileage out of bylined articles, and from pitching broadcast media to starting a blog. With such a crowded marketplace, there's only so much coverage that the HR media can offer. Being creative and building relationships are the keys to getting noticed. If attendees walked away with only three messages from the webinar, I'd hope they were: Read those trade publications Know what makes your business unique among competitors Eliminate jargon—be a storyteller For the full webinar, visit http://www.hrmarketer.com/home/webinars09252008.htm A final note: logistics caused me to present from my home office in Salinas, California, one day before the city's annual air show. So when you play the webinar, be sure to listen for the earth-shaking arrival of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Given our program title, we couldn't have asked for a better soundtrack! Post by Elrond Lawrence
• JobApp Network Earns Great Media Coverage by Leading with Original Content - Anyone who reads this blog, or talks to any member of the team here at HRmarketer, will hear over and over that “Content is King”. HR professionals love tools that will help them do their jobs better, save the company money, help make the case for why they should implement “X” program, software, etc. As an HR supplier, you know your business, you have insight that others may not have even considered, and you know cost savings companies experience when they use your product or service. The simple idea is to use that expertise, thought leadership, data and analysis to promote your company as an industry leader and as a company HR professionals should consider doing business with. A perfect example of such content is a research report put out by JobApp Network, provider of phone and web-based hiring management solutions. This report was featured in Diversity Executive magazine and on the popular New York Times blog Freakonomics. These are two great earned media placements, one industry-specific and one general business/interest. JobApp Network also recently announced via the availability of the report via a press release (sent via HRmarketer.com). What was so interesting about this research? For the report “Automated Hiring Solutions and Diversity”, JobApp Network analyzed data from their clients hiring hourly employees and discovered that providing web-based only hiring management systems may exclude certain applicant populations. The study suggests that companies who offer both web and phone based hiring solutions experience a more diverse pool of applicants. In analyzing the data they discovered that there are many people out there who do not have regular Internet access. This conclusion may come as a surprise to those who have email coming into their phones day and night, who read blogs, connect with friends online and basically use the web and email every day for both work and personal use. For companies hiring hourly employees this is without a doubt enlightening information and something for them to consider as they evaluate their hiring process and how they go about finding, sourcing and screening the best candidates. So, what expertise or insight do you have to offer your clients and potential clients? Are you using it to help educate and draw in potential new customers? If not, you’re missing out on a powerful way to promote your business, increase traffic to your site and generate sales leads! Post by Jocelyn Goodman Cook
• HR Tech and the New Administration: Let’s Keep Hope Alive - According to Washington lawyers, Silicon Valley needs to push the tech agenda with the yet-to-be-inaugurated Obama administration. Because the first battle will be over the next stimulus package, "the valley needs to persuade the Obama administration that 'technology means stimulus' — that investing in energy and other initiatives will help restore the economy to health." What's with the lawyers? Expect more regulation to be reconstituted in Washington; the market won't be given carte blanche anymore. I was telling one of our staff the other day that I have this juxtaposed split-screen video running in my head: on one side there's Alan Greenspan saying "I really thought the market could manage itself" and then the other side shows a roomful of kids viciously attacking a cross-bred elephant/donkey piñata full of delicious candy. The new wave of regulation will spill over to HR as well. According to SHRM: The new administration and democratic-led congress could advance the most active workplace policy agenda in the last 30 years. Within the first nine months of the new session, Democrats are likely to push legislative initiatives on such issues as a mandated card check process, paid sick leave, and enhanced gender non-discrimination in pay decisions. In addition, with the new administration and enlarged Democratic majorities, we anticipate increased regulatory enforcement activity on issues vital to HR. For instance, an Obama administration is likely to increase rulemaking in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in order to address perceived deficiencies in workplace safety regulations. HR technology needs to be a part of this agenda and "the other initiatives" in order to help fix the economy. No matter how deep the recession and how high the unemployment rate gets, private and public institutions alike need to manage, regulate and improve their workforces. Let's keep hope alive. HR tech means stimulus. Post by Kevin Grossman
• Showing Some Skin at the First HR Technology Beauty Pageant - We have Bill Kutik's very popular HR Technology Shootouts and now we have a Beauty Pageant giving top vendors in HR technology another venue to strut their stuff. I love great marketing ideas. And that is exactly what HRchitect's recently announced "Beauty Pageants" for Top Vendors in the HR Technology Arena is - a great marketing idea. Why? For a lot of reasons but mainly because it is highly creative, well branded, provides real value for HR decision makers, gives HRchitect a ton of visibility and will generate a lot of ongoing buzz. As a marketer I wish I could take credit for such a fabulous idea. But I can't. Kudos to Tiffany Appleby and Matt Lafata at HRchitect' for coming up and executing this idea. Here are the details: What is it? HRchitect, an HR technology consulting firm that helps companies select the right technology for their HR and talent management needs, is hosting a series of 90-minute webinars where six vendors will compete for the votes from an estimated 200 HR professionals in attendance. What are the HR people voting on? Who has the best HR technology solution. What is the schedule of Webinars? (all times are 11am CST) November 14: Talent Acquisition Systems November 21: Talent Management Systems December 12: Human Resource Information Systems December 19: Learning Management Systems January 9: Mid-market ATS January 16: Onboarding January 23: Employee Performance Management February 6: Mid-market HRIS February 13: Time & Attendance Systems February 20: Workforce Planning March 13: Compensation Management March 20: Succession Planning What HR Technology vendors will compete? HRchitect publishes many reports on what they believe to be the top HR technology vendors. They reached out to the top vendors in each category above to participate in these Beauty Pageants. Some declined. Ultimately, about 6 vendors were selected per category. Why Beauty Pageants? That's the theme for these 90 minute webcasts where each of the 6 vendors (contestants) have 7 minutes to strut their stuff. Here is the agenda: Opening Ceremonies: Intro by HRchitect and overview of the marketplace. Evening Gown: The formalities. Contestants give their corporate overview, list of marque clients, etc. Swimsuit: The Wow factor. Contestants discuss their technology, usability and show some skin (screenshots). Talent: Contestants discuss their technology's functionality, integration, features, etc. Interview: The audience (HR professionals) asks questions. Vote: HR people vote and the winner is crowned. I bet HRchitect had a lot of fun working on this project. Good "content". Good marketing. Good visibility. Good leads. Good fun. I love it. More details here.
• Rita Jackson joins HRmarketer.com - Rita Jackson joined the HRmarketer sales and account management team this week as our new sales director. We're thrilled to have Rita on our team! Many of you know Rita from her five years with HR.com, the HRmarketer.com partner, Web site and online community serving HR professionals and executives where she both led a sales team and managed major and enterprise-level accounts. She's widely regarded as a superb relationship-builder and has a record of great customer service and demonstrable industry expertise. She knows her stuff. Quoting from today's news release announcing Rita's hiring, our founder and president, Mark Willaman states: We are lucky to have someone of Rita's expertise and background join our Fisher Vista family. Rita is a perfect fit for us as we continue record growth of our core HRmarketer.com business and prepare to enter new markets with the upcoming launch of SeniorCareMarketer.com. For those of you who don't know Rita, I hope that you will soon. Like everyone on the HRmarketer.com team, she's committed to your success and has the skill and abilities to deliver on that commitment.
• Podcast: Stephen A. Lowisz of Qualigence - Continuing our series of interviews recorded at the Onrec Expo 2008 in Chicago, we bring you a brief conversation with Stephen A. Lowisz, President & Chief Executive Officer of Qualigence, Inc. Stephen’s expertise in recruitment, and specifically passive candidate recruitment, has made him an industry thought leader. He is a regular speaker and presenter at many recruiting industry events throughout the year, as well as a speaker/consultant for major organizations each year. Stephen’s presentation at this year’s Onrec Expo was entitled Combining Technology with the Handshake in Today’s Changing Recruiting Landscape. He took some time following his presentation to a packed room to share with us his thoughts on the recruiting industry moving forward, as well as how he came up with the name for his company. Resource links HR Supplier Profile: Qualigence ERE Vendor Watch: Qualigence
• Cash is king, but if you must cut marketing and PR, outsource it - From the silver-lining sentiment of last week's ERE Expo, "We will get through this" – to the economic-angst-ridden presidential election this week – to the don't-hold-your-breath rising strength of the U.S. dollar – the giant pool of money is still pretty big, even with the losses it's taken of late. They just aren't spending it; investment money is pretty hard to come by these days. VentureBeat, a Web news site that tracks Silicon Valley deals, assembled a group of investment experts last week at an event that was called "RecessionBeat" (read the San Jose Mercury News article). They gave survival advice to start-ups — tactics for cutting costs and raising money. Mahalo's Jason Calacanis was quoted as saying, "This is no ordinary business cycle. This is a crisis. My prediction is that Google will lay off people. And that's when we'll know we've hit the bottom." Crap. So we haven't hit bottom yet according to these guys. And yet, there are still many bright spots across industries, including the HR marketplace. You've heard us say content is king, and it is when it comes to marketing and PR, but right now cash is king. The investment folk at "RecessionBeat" shared some helpful survival tips for companies – all of which are applicable to HR suppliers that aren't profitable and/or seeking investment whether you're a start-up or not: Cash is king. Companies that don't have at least a year to 18 months of operating cash should cut staff and/or seek a bridge loan from original investors. Act now. VC John Doerr and others urged entrepreneurs to move swiftly, whether seeking a loan or cutting staff. Protect the vital core. Use a scalpel, not an ax, on the business, Doerr advised, and cut deeply, but just once. Everything is negotiable. Angel investor Ron Conway recalled renegotiating rents for start-ups during the dot-com bust. Offer equity as a form of payment to preserve cash. Outsource and open source. Move some engineering functions overseas. Some office functions can be handled cheaply on Web-based services like Google Docs. (And if you're cutting marketing and PR budgets, look to outsource to firms like HRmarketer.) Make more money. The focus must shift to growing revenue from growing market share. (Develop new revenue channels and sell, sell, sell.) Over-communicate. Keep employees, investors, partners and customers informed. Be open to M&A. Being bought may be the best option for a start-up with good technology and talent that has a struggling business model. (We recently hosted a great Webinar with Rod Robertson and Ellen Steinlauf from Briggs Capital titled How to Value and Sell Your HR Business. If you haven't seen it, I advise you check it out.) We've got many other posts on the subject as well: You can keep it local, productive and profitable in a global economy. Really. Business Strategy. What's Yours? Lessons from Peter Drucker Part 1 of 3. Doing Business in a Slow Economy. A Business Owner's Thoughts. What's Next in Web 2.0? Build to Sustain and Remain Economies that scale and shape-shift Asteroids Happen Post by Kevin Grossman
• ERE Expo Fall 2008: "We will get through this." - The ERE Expo Fall 2008 concluded Thursday, October 30 in Hollywood Beach Florida. The unusually cool weather that overtook South Florida on Tuesday this week served to underscore the "chill" in the markets and its effect on the recruitment industry. That said, the few days of professional development, networking, and deal-making became part pep-rally, group therapy session, reality-check, and opportunity spotting for the mix of professional and corporate recruiters, recruiting thought-leaders, service provides, technology vendors, and industry media. Jan Hopkins, former CNN anchor, in offering a political, economic, and cultural sweep of America summed up the sentiment underscoring the entire conference: "We will get through this." She's referring of course to the myriad of problems that have beset households, businesses, governments, and our financial markets. Ethan Bloomfield, vp of sales operations at JobTarget (a show sponsor and exhibitor) offered a compelling argument for increasing or at least maintaining business investment: "Either it's going to get better or the world's going to end." I personally like that strategy for conquering the fear associated with the downside risk of doubling down in a down economy. While the general perception was that attendance numbers this fall were down from previous expos, ERE deserves to be commended for producing a high-quality event. I'm quite certain that the ERE Expo will continue to be among the top-tier events in this industry, and placed atop the very short list of "must attend" events for recruiters who can get a hold of the budget dollars to attend a professional development conference. Here are a few bullet points from my conference session notes: From Jason Warner, Head of Staffing, Online Sales and Operations at Google: The importance of talent is even greater in tough economic times Talent is available now and demand is still strong. That's good news for recruiters. Quoting Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, "Scarcity brings clarity." Every business, business-function, and individual must understand and focus on their essential value-add in the marketplace and organization. More from Jan Hopkins: Quoting a high profile business executive, the US needs "more civil engineers, less financial engineers." As a country, we've been living beyond our means and as a country we're going to relearn the values past generations had mastered, in particular those of thrift and saving. HR professionals and Recruiters are on the front-lines; they have an opportunity to gain leverage through this great sorting out by finding creative ways to boost morale, keep the most valuable employees, and help develop creative compensation solutions. From the participants, demonstrating the "wisdom of crowds:" Overcoming common relocation challenges associated with a down real estate market, one recruiter told how her company, in order to relocate a candidate, networked with other companies in their area found a candidate heading in the opposite direction. They found an opportunity for a "home swap." One company partnered with a local university to do statistical research to identify top engineering candidates who have a profile matching those most willing to relocate: post-graduate, married, non-home owners. The window of such a profile match is short so this organization works hard to find candidates while still in that sweet spot. Those who used to lose out on MBA talent to the financial industry are now able to compete. Real industry such has the opportunity to load up on talent while Wall Street is in its downward spiral. Further reading of ERE Expo coverage: ERE Keynoter Says Economy Offers Recruiters "Seat At The Table" Vendors Reach Recruiters With Coffee Mugs, Rockets, and Information The #ereexpo Twitter feed, a lively virtual exchange, complimenting the on premise action
• Talent Management in Family Owned Businesses. Be Different! - Talk about a Niche. We've had the wonderful pleasure of welcoming as an HRmarketer.com member a company called Strategic Designs for Learning (SDL). Strategic Designs For Learning assists organizations in assessing, aligning and developing talent. Specific capabilities include leadership development, executive coaching, team development, and succession - with particular expertise in working with family-owned businesses. That's right - family-owned businesses. Call me naive or uninformed but until Renée Montoya Lado, the very impressive founder of SDL educated me, I just assumed that most family owned businesses were small and local. I could not have been more wrong. Check out these statistics: According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, approximately 90% of American businesses are family-owned or controlled and 60% of all publicly traded companies in the U.S. retain some level of family control. The greatest part of America's wealth lies with family-owned businesses. Ranging in size from two-person partnerships to Fortune 500 firms, these businesses account for half of the nation's employment and half of the GNP. According to Renee, the family business model is unique because it incorporates three distinct and overlapping elements – the family, the ownership structure, and the business. And SDL has established a wonderful business helping family owned businesses with their talent management needs. By definition, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. A niche market may be thought of as a narrowly defined group of potential customers. But what I love about SDL's niche market of family owned businesses is it is quite large (atypical of most niche markets) and it is cross-industry. Family-owned businesses are equally large in just about every market segment from mining to software. This makes it relatively easy and cost-effective to target. But what I really love about the niche is it has some pretty big entry barriers. Very niche like. Trust me, you can't just re-package your TM services for family-owned businesses and expect to be taken seriously. Serving this market is about experience, credibility, trust, relationships and expertise in understanding the very unique and challenging dynamics of a family owned business - something SDL is very, very good at. Many leading talent management software firms do target various industry "niches" like food services, hospitality, retail, financial services, etc. But I would argue that the niche market (and I use the term loosely here) in these cases is the hourly worker and not so much a specific industry. True, this "niche" is also quite large and spans across many industries but the entry barriers are not that big so competition is ferocious. Not very niche like. And not that unique. Really great niche markets are small enough for you to dominate, but big enough to be highly profitable. Or, like in the case of SDL, unique and different enough for you to dominate and big enough to be highly profitable. The lesson here is summed up by Jack Trout, author of Differentiate or Die: "Why should a customer buy your company's product instead of the 10 or so other competitive choices? That's the question you should be answering. Build a [business/product] around that answer."In other words, just be different. And then market the heck out of it. And don't stop.
• Note to self and management: don’t cross HR - In an article written by Justin Scheck and published in the Wall Street Journal on October 30 titled Former Staffers Sue Dell, Alleging Discrimination, Justin describes a recent class action suit filed against Dell. The alleged discrimination claims that women and employees over 40 years of age were treated unfairly. The plaintiffs are seeking $500 Million from Dell. That's one big chunk of change. According to the article, the total number of employees and former employees involved in the class action suit could number in the thousands. One of the most interesting things about this lawsuit is that a Human Resources Director was one of the driving forces behind this lawsuit. My advice: Don't mess with your own human resources employees – they know the law, and they aren't afraid to use it! Another interesting tidbit: One of the plaintiffs involved has provided her own performance review to support her claims. It seems her supervisor wrote this boneheaded comment: "You are…breaking into arguable one of the toughest old boy networks in Dell." Wow! How did that one slip by the Human Resources Department? (Hmmm, maybe it didn't…) This brings to mind an ominous, but predictable outcome when the economy goes bad: an increase in employee lawsuits! I ran across the following article describing a survey of 350 Law Firms the 2008 Litigation Trends Survey just published by international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Read this article A Bear Market Turns Bullish on Litigation. The article states: "This year's (2008) survey appears to mark an inflection point for American business, between the end of a prolonged period of prosperity and the start of a period of economic challenge that is likely to fuel litigation over who is to blame and who should pay for the consequences," said Stephen C. Dillard, who chairs Fulbright's global litigation practice. I worked in HR for two companies that hired me AFTER a law suit hit. (Both were discrimination lawsuits.) One company was out of business within one year, and one lost major market share, because of the fear and recrimination as a result of the lawsuits. Best practices in HR – now more than ever. Post by Dawn Passaro
• Soothe your new customer when he wails. Really. - I'm living and breathing baby with our 5-week old. My wife has been reading tons of baby books, and I'm just trying to keep up with a few. She bookmarked a little ditty for me in our latest Parenting magazine the other day and I finally read it (thank goodness she does this). It's titled The Spoiled Baby Myth. The main theme is this: Soothe your new baby when she wails. Don't ignore her thinking she'll self-soothe and be okay. What does this have to do with marketing and PR and running a business? No, I'm not sleep deprived or diaper crazy. There is a point. All of you at one or another have landed a new customer who wailed every step of the way – from the closing the sale to implementation to renewal. Nothing you do appeases them and you question why their organization signed up in the first place. The global financial meltdowns will drive even more customers to wailing as well, wanting a lot more for less. But you're smart business people and you acknowledge their complaints and do everything you can to transform them into happy campers, however futile it sometimes feels. Smaller, nimble firms are usually more adept at responding to customers who wail. Larger companies are not and many buy into the myth that loyal (non-wailing) customers are the most valuable (mistake number two). Look at what happens when large companies screw up with legitimately wailing customers. Not to say that there are illegitimate wailing customers (children, maybe – don't look at me), because every customer should be treated with respect and be acknowledged and you should always work it out for them – whatever it takes. Don't ignore them and hope they'll go away, because they will and take their business elsewhere. Mark wrote earlier this year on Customer Service and Recessions that: 1. When something goes wrong, acknowledge it. If it is a result of a mistake you made, admit it. 2. Apologize. 3. Explain what happened, how you are going to fix it, and if applicable how you will contact the customer when it is fixed. 4. Leave the customer feeling good. Yes, number 4 is hard to do when you're dealing with wailing customers. But from my experiences there's always someone in your organization who can appease, no matter how far up and/or across you have to go. And as we've said in another post about customer service, handling customer's questions or concerns in a timely and friendly manner is vital to the long-term success of your company. They aren't a nuisance; they're your business – no matter how much they wail. And I've got super soft blankies for all of them. Post by Kevin Grossman
• Johnson & Johnson Becomes an HR Vendor With Latest Acquisition - Many of us in the human resource marketplace tend to focus on "talent management software and services vendors". This is not surprising considering many of the publicly traded HR vendors provide these services. But there are a lot of other human resource vendors including recruitment and staffing, compensation/payroll, employee benefits, training and development, compliance/legal, etc. For a great overview of the human capital marketplace see our HR Marketplace article. One particular HR category that has been getting a lot of attention this week is "online health coaching". The reason is because Johnson & Johnson announced this week that it bought HealthMedia, Inc., a provider of online health coaching services and software to help employers reduce healthcare costs. (BTW, this was a very interesting purchase considering J&J got out of a similar business in 2003 when they sold their subsidiary Health & Fitness Services for about $5 million.) Ted Dacko, HealthMedia’s CEO and president, recently said his company, which had $23 million in revenue last year, has the potential to reach $500 million in sales and that during the last few years he has received one or two telephone calls per week from people interested in buying his company. Looks like Ted chose a great buyer with J&J. Congratulations Mr. Dacko. HealthMedia sells their online coaching services direct to employers (eBay, J&J, etc.) and insurance companies (BCBS plans, Aetna, etc.) who in turn either offer the program to their employer clients or direct to health plan participants. Two years ago, Ceridian made a similar purchase when they acquired the online health coaching (and long time HRmarketer.com member) Leade Health. And earlier this month, Gordian Health Solutions announced they had selected Hummingbird Coaching (a provider of online health coaching services and another long time HRmarketer.com member) to be the online health coaching partner for the iCoaching program it rolled out earlier this year. Hummingbird Coaching Services also works with Google, Motorola and United Healthcare, among others. And just this week, Wellsource, a provider of online health coaching services, announced a partnership with Health Solutions Ltd to expand it's health coaching services. Looks like the competition in the health coaching and wellness industry is heating up. In their press release, J&J stated that HealthMedia is the base for their “Wellness & Prevention Platform.” The "base"? If history is any indication, my hunch is J&J is not done acquiring wellness companies. If you are a vendor in the health coaching or employee wellness space such as an EAP, Work-Life, or Wellness company then now is the time to step up your marketing and PR. Why? Because with a big name like J&J getting into this space a lot of companies (e.g., JNJ competitors) and investors will be taking a fresh look at the space and this gives you the opportunity to get some good visibility with a minimal investment. If you are easily found online. For example, after this announcement I went to Google and did a search for "online health coaching" and I bet a lot of other people did the same. Who shows up? Hummingbird does as a result of their regular search-optimized press releases via HRmarketer.com and the fact that their site is search-optimized. So does Gordian. But not many others do. And I counted just four sponsored links (AdWords). I see opportunity.
• On to ERE Expo Fall 2008 - The ERE Daily has been a welcome entry into my Inbox for years. I can still recall a time when the term "thought-leader" was not a part of my vocabulary. When I had to ask, "Ok, what's a thought-leader?" a colleague pointed me to The Electronic Recruiting Exchange, now known as ERE Media. Thought-leaders, and more to the point, thought-leadership content in the form of contributed articles arrive daily by the likes uber-gurus Dr. John Sullivan, Kevin Wheeler, and Lou Adler. Years later, I'm finally finding an occasion to attend my first ERE Expo. This is biannual event that alternates between the east and west coasts where the recruiting professionals and leaders across the country and the world come to network, learn, and meet the "thought-leaders" face-to-face. I'll be attending to listen and learn from the recruiting professionals, to explore the supplier exposition and meet many of you in the expo hall, and to report back to you on this blog with posts and maybe a podcast interview or two. For those on twitter, you can catch updates at http://twitter.com/ereexpo or by searching #ereexpo. My twitter feed is http://twitter.com/JonathanGoodman. David Manaster and his team have also organized a live streaming video of feed of sessions from the event. So if you were not able to attend, you can still catch a bit of the ERE experience live. Finally, ERE has a great group of journalists, so I'd also watch John Zappe's contributions and posts (I highly recommend his RSS feed) and articles from Todd Raphael across the various ERE Media print and electronic properties. Watch this space for (thought-leading) updates in the coming days!
• Mistakes Marketers Make - I'm an avid reader of marketing books, magazines, web sites, and newsletters. Like any discipline, I believe it is important for marketer's to stay current with the latest thoughts and ideas in their field. I get inspiration and ideas from other people's different and unique perspectives on the subject of marketing. As Albert Einstein said, "the secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources". Being open to new marketing ideas forces us to challenge our conventional way of thinking and ask questions we otherwise would not have asked. This, in turn, can lead to breakthrough ideas. In the Monday Wall Street Journal, there was one such article titled "Mistakes Marketers Make" written by Dr. Corkindale from the Universirty of South Australia's International Graduate School of Business. I'm not sure I am in 100% agreement with all seven (see below) but I spent a lot of time thinking about each one as it related to our company and in the process, asked some important questions I would otherwise have not asked. Do you agree with all these mistakes? Leave a comment. The mistakes included: Mistake Number One: Companies Need to Find and Target the Market Segments for Their Brands. Wrong says Dr. Corkindale. Aim at the broader market. The profiles of those who buy different brands in a particular product category are not that different. Marketers who only target a certain buyer lose potential business - and spend unnecessary market research dollars on segmenting the market. In one recent marketing study, nearly 50% of consumers said they bought the same brand of gasoline regularly. However, after studying their purchasing behavior for 6 months it was found they only bought their brand 6% of the time. The same results were found across most product categories. As an example, Apple Computer scoffs at the notion of a target market. Apple doesn't even conduct focus groups. According to Steve Jobs (from a recent Fortune Magazine article): "You can't ask people what they want if it's around the next corner," says Steve Jobs. At Apple, new-product development starts in the gut and gets hatched in rolling conversations that go something like this: What do we hate? (Our cellphones.) What do we have the technology to make? (A cellphone with a Mac inside.) What would we like to own? (You guessed it, an iPhone.) "One of the keys to Apple is that we build products that really turn us on," says Jobs.Is your target market to narrow? Mistake Number Two: Loyal Customers are the Most Valuable. Wrong again (according to Dr. Corkindale ).Totally loyal buyers of a brand tend to make up only 10% of all buyers - and they often buy less frequently than other buyers. A company that focuses on gaining and retaining these buyers may not be doing the smartest thing. Mistake Three: The Only Ways to Grow Your Brand are (1) increasing the customer base (2) increasing the loyalty of customers and (3) increasing the frequency of their purchases. Dr. Corkindale says no! The only way to achieve lasting sales growth is to either reach new customers in existing markets or enter new markets. Companies regularly swap customers with competitors but that does not result in significant changes to market share. You need to grow the pie. This is very relevant to the human capital marketplace. Mistake Four: To Succeed, You Must Differentiate Your Product. Not according to Dr. Corkindale who says that doing so restricts your product's appeal to the small set of customers who like what you did differently. What most customers want is not differentiation but products or services that are simply better at doing the routine things they expect. Again, very relevant to the HR marketplace. Mistake Five: Promotions Bring in Extra Worthwhile Business. Nope - promotions just attract people who were already customers. The result? Giving discounts to the people who would have bought anyway. And the new customers you do attract often don't become frequent customers. Years ago while on a business tour in Hong Kong I met with an executive from a Japanese owned department store and they told me they never have sales for this very reason. In the retail department store business in America this was unheard of. Maybe he was on to something. Mistake Six: The Company that is best at Marketing the Four P's (product, place, price, promotion) Wins. Half correct says Dr. Corkindale who says that equally important is "brand strength". A strong brand is one that people trust and that has a track record of high quality and reliability. Companies need to do everything possible to nurture their brands. I couldn't agree more. This alone is a reason to keep your marketing going during a slow economic times. I continue to be shocked at the number of companies in the HR space who simply stop marketing during tough economic times. Bad idea. Mistake Seven: Marketing is All About Hunting and Capturing Clients. Not anymore says Dr. Corkindale. The Internet has changed everything. Consumers proactively hunt out and evaluate you online. They use the internet to find and make choices about the products they buy. Readers of our HRmarketer.com Trend Reports already understand this. The role of marketing is to make sure your company's products or services are easily found online. Dr. Corkindale, you are absolutely 100% correct on this one.
• Get Rid of the Performance Review! - So says UCLA professor Dr. Culbert in a recent Wall Street Journal article. Why? The performance review "destroys morale, kills teamwork and hurts the bottom line". And that's just for starters the author says. Here are the key points (but please read the article because Dr. Culbert makes some very convincing arguments as to why companies should trash performance reviews and 360 assessments): In a typical performance review, the boss wants to discuss where performance needs to improve while the person being reviewed wants to discuss compensation. Dr. Culbert argues that employee pay is determined by market forces with most jobs being put into a pay range before the employee is even hired. It has little to do with performance and forces the boss to make up excuses as to why the raise is lower than what the subordinate expected. And this discussion is what dominates the review. But the disconnect with pay is not the only reason Dr. Culbert despises performance reviews as you'll find out when reading the article. So what's the alternative? Dr. Culbert suggests performance "previews" where the assignment of the boss is to guide, coach, tutor and do whatever else is required to assist a subordinate to perform successfully. Realistic assessment of someone's qualities requires replacing scores on standardized checklists with inquiry. The manager should make sure the employee understands the nature of their job assignment (read what Peter Drucker says about this topic in a previous blog posting) and has the tools and resources to get the job done successfully - and how the boss and the subordinate can complement one another in getting work done with excellence. Dr. Culbert also thinks the manager should be held equally accountable for the success or failure of an employee. Too often, argues Dr. Culbert, subordinates fail and get fired while their bosses get promoted. Performance previews should not be held annually but anytime either the manager or subordinate feels they are not working well together. This is a very interesting read for any manager but also for companies in the business of performance appraisals and 360 assessments who are looking for ways to improve their product and/or messaging. Check it out.
• Podcast: Brent Arslaner of Unisfair - Brent Arslaner, VP of Marketing at Unisfair, discusses virtual events and job fair technology with HRmarketer's Jonathan Goodman at the Onrec Expo 2008. Unisfair creates virtual enivronments that facilitate "live" or real time interaction for recruiters and candidates. As a potential game-changing technology, the Unisfair platform serves, among other benefits, to decrease the recruiting cycle times at the early stages of the process. By gaining efficiences via virtual interactions, precious face-time can be reserved for fully qualified candidates at more advanced stage in the process. Brent's goal at Onrec 2008 was to "let people know what's possible." The Unisfair technology is also used for marketing, training, corporate events, conferences and just about anything you might otherwise do with a physical event. It's no longer hard to imagine this virtual event space really taking off. Think of email forever changing written communication and Webex and GoToMeeting changing the nature of seminar presenations and sales meetings. Unisfair and like technologies may be our next regular meeting place for the more complex and interactive gatherings. Just imagine, no fighting for overhead compartment space for your rollerboard on that flight to some far off city where you may never make it out of the hotel. That's compelling! Resource links - ReadWriteWeb: Sneak Peak at Unisfair Web site: http://www.unisfair.com/
• HR Tech Expo Hall Day 2 (t-rex rocked the house) - While I was away at HR Tech, I listened to excellent but frightening podcasts from This America Life about the global financial meltdown, read through The Essential Drucker, and Caveman's Guide to Baby's First Year. I learned about what to do in business and with baby, and what not to do with the global pool of money (investing in mortgage-backed securities, CDO's and credit default swaps – what Warren Buffet called financial weapons of mass destruction). Asteroids Happen. Be Prepared. (Especially when they're manmade, hurled from Wall Street's stratosphere.) But even with Taleo, Salary.com and Kenexa getting hammered in the market (along with every other industry going up and down and up and down – and now they're up), you wouldn't know it at HR Tech. The consensus from most suppliers we spoke with is that the show went well – for visibility and lead generation (ATS vendor nowHIRE said they had great leads while SonicRecruit said no). And most HR folks and executive management I spoke with were there to shop – maybe not with a long list and until they dropped – but they were there to buy software and/or services for their companies. Day 2 on the floor seemed to have thicker traffic than the first day. Attendance numbers were bloated as they always are at events, and according to John Zappe from the ERE: Seems there's a little discrepancy over just how the financial climate affected attendance at HR Tech. Wednesday, show manager Fred Kurst estimated attendance at around 2,000, not including exhibitors. Now we hear that number may have been more of a guesstimate and that registrations fell off as rapidly as the Dow did a few weeks ago. Even so, vendors, who almost always grumble about the cost and the conference attendance, told us they were at least happy about the latter. Dozens of companies announced new products at this year's show, including our own HR Community. There were many familiar faces and some new kids on the block as well. It was great to talk with new companies/products to the HR space like eThority and Orchestrata. Marketing fun spilled out from most booths, but out of all the fun marketing tchotchkes given away, including the Monster monsters, the one folks across the hall crossed the entire floor for was our t-rex squeezies and t-shirts. Great show, great marketing, great visibility and leads. Oh, and I loved the tagline from Workday: Innovation is not installed. Damn straight. Asteroids Happen. Be prepared. Build to sustain and remain. See you next year at HR Tech! Post by Kevin Grossman
• HR Tech Expo Hall Day 1 (chillin’ at the M/X lounge) - Good companies. Good HR folk. Good times. That's what it's about when we bring